Good morning, and welcome back to the grid. Fourteen stories crossed the wire at Backfire Racing on Monday — a WRC manufacturers’ title settled in Chile, an F3 championship decided in a race that was never on the calendar, Fernando Alonso talking openly about 2027, and a NASCAR schedule that quietly went a series short. Here they all are, in the time it takes to finish the first cup.
Weekend Recap, September 11-13: Antonelli Runs Away, Larson Wakes Up, and Marc Marquez Takes the Lead Back
By Kyle Matthews — Four championships ran between Friday and Sunday and only one of them looks the same afterward: Antonelli built an 81-point lead, Larson ended a 51-race drought, and Marc Marquez took the MotoGP lead back. Read more
What the Paddock Is Waiting On This Week: a 274-Point Tie and a 3-Point Cut Line
By Kyle Matthews — Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin are dead level on 274 points, Bristol’s playoff cut line is three, and three world championships sit this week out. Read more
The Grid Today: Motorsport News Briefing for September 14, 2026
By Lauren Miller — Confirmed results, schedules and storylines across Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR and IndyCar, with Antonelli’s Madrid win leading the card. Read more
NASCAR’s 2027 San Diego Return Is a Series Shorter — and the Trucks Had That Weekend Free
By Lauren Miller — NASCAR returns to Naval Base Coronado on July 30-August 1, 2027 with Cup and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The Truck Series is off the card, and the calendar says that was a choice. Read more
Alonso Said Yes to WEC. Here’s What He’d Actually Be Signing Up For.
By Kyle Matthews — Asked in Madrid whether a 2027 World Endurance Championship program was a genuine option, Alonso didn’t hedge. The more useful question is what that program would actually ask of him. Read more
Porsche Penske’s BoP Complaint Has a Problem: Its Own Customer Team Keeps Winning
By Kyle Matthews — Thomas Laudenbach and Jonathan Diuguid spent a media call explaining why the factory 963 has gone quiet since Daytona and Sebring. A customer team running the same car keeps undercutting the argument. Read more
Toyota Won Its 10th WRC Title in Chile. The One It Can’t Control Is Still Open.
By Kyle Matthews — Oliver Solberg led Rally Chile Biobio from the opening loop to the finish and beat Sebastien Ogier by 16.6 seconds, sealing a manufacturers’ title that leaves the drivers’ fight unresolved. Read more
WRC’s Cut-Price Way Into 2027 Is Ready. Hyundai Still Isn’t.
By Kyle Matthews — Andrew Wheatley has been talking about Hyundai’s World Rally Championship future for longer than it normally takes a manufacturer to build an entirely new rally car — and that says as much about the 2027 rules as it does about Hyundai. Read more
Ott Tanak Is Entered at Overmountain. Toyota’s Own Explanation Points at 2027.
By Johnny Puckett — Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja are entered as car 881 for a 58-car gravel rally in Newport, Tennessee on September 18-19, and the obvious explanation for it is the wrong one. Read more
Subaru’s Overmountain Fill-In for Pastrana Isn’t a Downgrade — the Entry List Says So
By Lauren Miller — With Pastrana injured, Subaru Motorsports USA didn’t just plug a name into the entry form. The American Rally Association’s official list for the September 18-19 event explains why Conner Martell was the pick. Read more
The Race That Won Ugo Ugochukwu the F3 Title Wasn’t on the Original Calendar
By Lauren Miller — Ugochukwu clinched the 2026 FIA Formula 3 championship by running second for 22 laps, surviving a late safety car restart and banking 18 points — in a race that wasn’t on the original schedule. Read more
Lady in Shorts Costs Racing Team Some Cash
By Elle Puckett — At 15:33 on Friday afternoon in Madrid, someone standing beside Sebastian Montoya’s PREMA Racing car was wearing shorts. At 15:36 the same car came back with a bent right-rear lower wishbone. Both moments produced a fine. Read more
A Toyota Won The Bend 500. A Rounding Error Deleted Two Mustangs.
By Elle Puckett — Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard won the AirTouch 500 at The Bend by 18 seconds, in a Toyota, from 11th on the grid — in a race where the sky emptied itself twice before half distance. Read more
Today in Motorsport History, September 14: Schumacher’s Monza Sprint Became F1’s Fastest Race for 22 Years
By Elle Puckett — On September 14, 2003, Michael Schumacher started from pole, led every lap at Monza and held off Juan Pablo Montoya to win the fastest race in Formula 1 history — a record that stood for 22 years. Read more
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